I'm still enjoying the Johnny Carson reruns on Antenna TV, though almost every monologue includes at least one then-topical joke that sends me scurrying to the Google. I did remember the oft-mentioned Euell Gibbons who was seen frequently in commercials for Post Grape Nuts cereal in the early seventies and referenced incessantly in Johnny quips. Mr. Gibbons was a naturalist and an author who advocated the eating of plants found in the wild. Johnny had him on a few times (when he brought along twigs and berries for the host to sample) and noted his passing in 1975…then gave him a sort of short-term immortality by continuing the Euell Gibbons jokes well into the eighties.
It's interesting to see some of Johnny's guests in these shows they're running. The other night, there was one with the Amazing Kreskin, who was (and I guess still is) a competent magician who was (and I guess still is) real good at making his tricks sound like they just might be actual psychic feats. He always loaded his presentations with disclaimers — "I'm not saying this is an example of actual mind-reading…" — but he probably convinced a lot of people that that's exactly what it was. He certainly didn't tell them he was using marked cards or anything of the sort.
I am a longtime believer that claims of psychic powers — and contacting the dead and psychic healing and any of that stuff — are pure hokum that often rise to the level of defrauding the desperate and gullible for money. Johnny also believed this and donated heavily to James Randi's foundation that debunked and exposed such chicanery. He once had Uri Geller on and with Randi's help, prevented him from using tricks to demonstrate his alleged powers.
Presumably, Johnny still felt as I did back then that Kreskin's "demonstrations" were harmless entertainment. The last decade or so that Mr. Carson did The Tonight Show though, he rarely (if ever) invited Kreskin or anyone like him to his stage and I'm wondering if that was because the rise of mega-powered charlatans like Sylvia Browne, Peter Popoff and John Edward made acts like Kreskin's seem like contributors to the chicanery.
Tonight, they're airing a 90 minute episode from 1974 with Lawrence Welk, David Brenner, writer Ashley Montagu and from the San Diego Zoo, Joan Embery with animals. I seem to remember on that episode that Mr. Welk led the Tonight Show band in a number and I suppose it will be edited out. Tomorrow night, there's a 1983 show with Bob Newhart. Tuesday night, it's Jay Leno, Fred Savage and Brian Gillis, who is still one of the best magicians working these days. If you get Antenna TV where you are, try one. If you don't, complain to someone.